Fender mounting flag



Sept. 6, 1932.

W. L. SHIRLEY FENDER MOUNTING FLAG Filed March 2 8, 1952 [ru/enfer',

Walter L..hirle)f, 5y mmm Azome/s.

. -3 drawing, in which Patented Sept. 6, 19,32

PATENT OFFICE WALTER L. SHIRLEY, F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA IENDEB. MONTING FLAG Application tiled Iaich 28, 1932. Serial No. 601,492.

This invention relates to the art of supports for small flags such as are employed to designate a car as a part of a funeral procession and refers particularly to means for 'l' removably attaching a lag to some part of the car such as the'fender. It is a primary object of my invention to provide a structure of the nature above indicated which may be attached to and disenga ed from a fender of the car b operating a c amp without the necessity o -having to employ screws and bolts or the like. Another important object of the invention is to provide a very simple p structure which may be readily formed and .llproduced at a low cost of production and which will remain operative over a long period of time.

Further advantages of the invention reside in the carrying of the flag directly upon n the clamp operating member, and the means for retaining the flag on a metal rod, and in the ability to use the device upon either a straight side or slopin side of a fender.

These and other obJects and advantages,

u such as the formation of the entire supporting structure out of wire, will become apparent to those versed in the art in the following description of the preferred form of the invention as illustrated by the accompanying Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a device embodying my invention;

Fig. 2, a fragmentary end elevation, and

Fig. 3, a raentary top plan view.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views in the drawing.

The clamping mechanism is formed from a single piece of wire. Beginning with one end of the wire and tracing it throughout the clamp to the other end, one end begins at the inner hook troni which the wire extends inwardly and thence is bent at right angles and carried to the right a short distance to be QE bent upwardly and thence around and back to below this short length to form a circular eye 11 to be in a vertical plane. The wire is carried around and vertically downward p from the inner under side of this eye 11 to 5@ form the leg 12. From the lower end of this leg 12 the wirel is continued and carried around circularly to form the coil 13 from the rear side of which the wire is again carried upwardly back of the leg 12 for a distance somewhat less than one-half the length of 56 the leg 12 and is then bent angularly forwardly to pass outwardly on the left side of the leg 12, then upwardly a short distance and back rearwardly to form the forwardly directedloop 14. The wire is carried back- C0 wardly on the top side of this loop and then bent upwardly to continue in a line with that part of the wire which extends upwardly from the rear side of the coil 13 and is carried upwardly and then bent laterally out- 05 ward and around circularly to form an eye 15 in a plane parallel to but back of the eye 11 and of the same size and at the same elevation. From the inner side of thisv eye 15 the wire extends horizontally to form the tie 16 and 7 is carried across in the plane of the eye 15 to be bent upwardly and around circularly to form an eye 17 in ,the same plane, the same size as, and at the saine elevation of the eye 15. In forming this eye 17 the wire is carried around and back inwardly and thence bent downwardly a short distance to be bent angularly forwardly in parallel and spaced apart relation with the top side of the loop 14 and then is bent downwardly and rearwardly 9 again to form the loop 18 which corresponds exactly in form and size to the loop 14. From the rear end of the under side of this loop 18 the wire is bent downwardly to continue'in the same line as that of the wire which joins the loop from the upper side and is coiled around from its lower end to form the coil 19 to correspond with the coil 13. From the forward side of this coil 19 the wire is continued vertically upward to form the leg 20 90 to be in parallel alignment with .the leg 12. This leg 20 extends upwardy on the outer side of the loop 18 and from. its upper end the wire is bent outwardly and circularly around inwardly to form the eye 21 to be in the same plane as that of the eye 11 and to be at the same elevation and have the same size. lrom the upper inner side of this eye 21 the wire is carried horizontally inwardly t0 under that part of the irst end of the wire which extends from the hook 10 and is then bent angularly outward to pass underand out beyond the hook 10 to terminate 1n the lbackturned hookl 22.

Those parts of the ends of the Wlre which contact one with another adjacent the hooks 10 and 22 are welded together so that the hooks 10 and 22 are held in fixed positions relative to each other and the eyes 11 and 21 are likewise held in fixed relation one to the other. In each of the eyes 11, 15, 17 and 21 is positioned an elastic rubber grommet 23 which has an annular groove into which the wire forming the eye may lit to have flanges of the grommet extending outwardly therebeyond. The coils 13 and 19 form torsion springs which normally swing the upturned ends of the wire at the back sides of these coils to a rearwardly disposed position which causes the forward sides of the loops 14 and 18 to be brought backwardly to near the legs 12 and 20 and also to have the back eyes 15 and 17 spaced rearwardly from the forward eyes 11 and 21.

2g I form a flag staff 24 from a piece of relatively heavy wire and form a foot on the lower end of this staff by bending the wire from which it ismade at right angles thereto and then curving the wire around rearwardly gg to form a loop to be in a plane at right angles to the axis of the wire above. From the back side of this loop 25 the wire is carried across in the same plane to be bent around forwardly and inwardly to form an other loop 26 of the same size and shape and in the same plane as that of the loop 25, both loops being symmetrically spaced from the axis of the staff 24. The inner end of the wireforming the loop 26 is curved around outwardly to form a slight hook 27. In forming the loop 25, that part of the wire which is on the forward side of the loop slopes at an angle outwardly from the lower end of the staff 24 to carry the lower end of the stad adjacent that part of the wire which extends across between the two loops whereby both of the forward sides of the outer ends of .the

loops 25 and 26 extend forwardly beyond the axis of the stall 24.

The two loops 14 and 18 are pressed forwardly of the respective legs 12 and 20 and are sprung apart laterally sufliciently to have the loop 26 entered through the loop 14 on the forward side of the leg 12'and theloop 25 entered through the loop 18 on the forward side of the leg 20. In this position the staff 24 normally extends outwardly at right angles to the legs 12 and 20 by having the under sides of the loops 25 and 26 rest against the legs 12-and 20. vNow by grasping the staff 24 and rocking it upwardly and back toward the hooks 10 and 22, the loops 25 and 26 are correspondingly shifted to have their back sides pressed against the legs 12 and 20 and their forward sides brought around against the inner sides of the loops 14 and 18, whereby, by reason of the distance between the opposite sides of the loops 25 and 26v the loops 14 and 1 8 will be drawn forwardly in relation to the legs 12 and 20 to correspondingly bring the eyes 15 and 17 forward to have the grommets therein compressively engage against the grommets in the front eyes 11 and 21 overcoming the backward pull set up by thecoil springs 13 and 19. The staff 24 may be engaged back of either of the hooks 22 or 10 to retaln the members in the position just described.

A flag 28 has a hem 29 formed along one vertical edge thereof into which is inserted a spacing wire 30. The upper end of thisV wire 30 is hooked around through a hole through the shaft below the head 31 and extends downwardly a short distance from this hook and then is bent around upwardly to form a loop 32 from the upper end of which the wire is bent sharply downwardly again to extend throughout the length of the hem 29. The lower end of the wire is bent sharply upwardly and thence outwardly and downfm the loops 32 and 33 and thus have the hem 29 "5 maintained in a stretched position along the staH 24. The flag 28 may be easily removed when worn and soiled by simply pulling down the flag to disengage it from the loop 33 and slipping the head 31 off of the shaft 24 l have the Hag slipped upwardly from olf of the wire 30. The head 31 is preferably retained on the upper end ofthe shaft 24 by pressing the head over the end of the shaft 24 and then rotating it slightly to cause a barb 35 projecting laterally from the shaft to dig into the head and thus prevent accidental upward displacement thereof. The head 31 is preferably made of wood so that the barb 35 may embed itself therein upon rotation.

In attaching the device to the car, the staff 24 is shifted laterally sufficiently to disengage it from under the hooks 10 and 22 and is rocked around to the outer position to permit the front and rear pairs of grommets to be spaced apart by the action of the coils 13 and 19 following which the clamp is slipped up from the under side of the skirt of a fender 36, Fig. 2, to have the grommets carried between eyes 11 and 21 on the outer side and the grommets carried between eyes 15 and 17 on the inner side of the skirt following which the shaft 24 is then rocked up lto permit the iag and spaced wire 30 to be removed from the shaft 24 and finally to wardly and rearwardly t draw the grommets compressively against the res ective sides of the fender skirt and is engage under the hook 10 if the skirt is'vertically disposed as indicated 'or is engaged under the hook 22 if the skirt extends outwardly at an angle whereby the stati 24 is positioned verticall in either case. The combined forward pu on the loops 14 and 18 causes the respective grommets to be drawn together to gri the fender skirt suiliciently to hold the c amp securely against slippage under vibration as the car may travel over rough roads. Y By reason of the elastic grommets, a yielding grip is maintained on the fender skirt and no damage is done to the finish thereof.

The flag staff 24 is preferably formed to have an oiset therein produced by the reversed bends 37 and 38 so that the stai may i be vgrasped by the operator about the portion between these bends when the clamp isbeing applied to or removed from the fender. The odset provides a gripping section whereby the stadv may be held against rotation so that, by one hand, the operator may bring the grommets up on the respective sides of the fender skirt, raise the staff and engage it under one of the hooks 10 or 22.

While ll have here shown and described 'my invention in the preferred form, it is obvious that structural variations may be Inade'without departing from the spirit of the invention and I therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise form' beyond the limitations that may be imposed by the following claims.

I claim:

l. In a dag holder, a clamping devlce having front and rear clamping members, a flag stad, a stad engaging hook xed relatlve to one of said clamping members, a loop fixed relative to an opposing clamp member, a leg extending from said one clamp member adjacent sald loop, a foot on said stafl' inserted in said loop having a greater width than height whereby the stad may be rocked to shift said loop by rotation of the foot and may be engaged byl said hook, and means Vfor retaining. a. flag on said stati'.

2. In a dag holder, a pair of front clampi ing eyes, a pair of rear clamping eyes, front and rear eye connecting means comprlsing members carried downwardly from the front eyes and back upwardly to form loops extending outwardly along aside of the downturned portionsland thence on upto the rear eyes,

a fiag stad, a foot on the stati entered through said loops in front of said downturned portions, said foot having a greater dimension laterally than vertically of the axis of the stad", and a hook fixed to the forward eyes to engage said staff.

A3. In a fla g holder, a pair of front clamping eyes, a pair of rear clamping eyes, front and rear eye connecting means comprising members carried downwardly from the front -portions and thence on up to the rear eyes, a

flag staii",`a foot on the stad entered through said loops in front of said downturned portions, said foot having a greater dimension laterally than vertically of the axis of the staff, and a hook fixed to the forward eyes to engage said statt, elastic cushion meinbers held-by said eyes, and springs at the lower ends of said connecting members tending to rock apart said pairs of clamping eyes.

4. In a flag holder, a flag staff, a flag having a hem, a flag staff head, and a'fiag spreader comprising a wire passing through the staff under the head and bent down and passed through the wall of the hem and thence up inside of the hem and then down to the bottom of the hem and thence up and through the wall of the hem and down outside of the hem to hold the flag taut along the flag stati".

5. In a flag holder, a wire formed clamping member formed from a single length of wire bentlto form an eye, a leg extending downwardly from the eye, a torsion spring at the lower end of the leg, a length extending upwardly and rearwardly from the leg, a forwardly extending loop in said length adj acent said leg, an eye on the upper end of said length back of said irst eye, a transversev length extending from the second eye, a third eye at the end of the transverse length, a length extending -downward from the third eye, a forwardly extending loop in the downward length arranged in parallel spaced apart relation to said first loop, a 'torsion spring at the lower end of said last length, a leg extending upwardly from said spring past said loop, an eye on the upper end of said last leg in front of said thirdeye and in the plane of the' first eye, and a hook extending forwardly from. between the first and fourth eyes.

6. In a Hag holder, a wire formed clamping member ormed from a single length of wire bent to form an eye,'a leg extending downwardly from the eye, a torsion spring at the lower end of the leg, a length extending upwardly and rearwardly from the leg, a

forwardly extending loop in said length adjacent said leg, an eye on the upper end `of said length back of said first eye, a transverse length extending from the second eye, a third eye at the end of the transverse length, a length extending downward frofm the third eye, a forwardly extending loop in the downward length arranged in parallel spaced apart relation to said rst loop, a torsion spring at the lower end of said last length, a leg extending upwardly from said spring past said loop, an eye on the upper end of said last leg in front of said third eye and in the plane of the first eye, and a hook extending forwardly from between the first and fourth eyes, and a clamp operating member-comprising a wire having a foot b ent from oneend'thereof in the shape of opposmg loops in a common plane normal to the axis of the Wire, one of said foot loops being insertedl through one of said clamp loops in front of its adjacent leg and the other foot loop through the other clamp loop in front of l its adjacent leg, whereby rocking of the opshaft inserted through said loop in front of said other leg, said foot having a greater width in its plane normal to the shaft than its thickness in the opposite direction, and a hook extending from one of said clamping members under which said shaft may be engaged. I v

8. In a flag holding device, a pair of opposing clamping members, a connecting member between the clampingmembers substantially U-shaped, a loop lformed in one of the legs of the connecting member directed forwardly along the side ofthe other, an oper'- ating member comprising a shaft and a foot on the shaft inserted through said loop in front of said other leg, said foot having a greater width in its plane normal to the shaft than its thickness in the opposite direction, and a hook extending from one of said clamp ing, members under which said shaft may be engaged, said connecting member being elastic to form a .spring between the legs thereof and normally carrying said loop back to press said foot against said other leg.

9. In a iiag holding device, two pairs of opposing clamping members, a connecting member between each of the clamping members in each pair substantially U-shaped and having a forwardly turned loop in one of its legs directed along the side of the other leg, a transverse bar interconnecting and rigidly .spacing apart corresponding clamping members in the two pairs, and a second bar transversely extending between and spacing apart the corresponding opposing clamping members, a shaft, a foot on the shaft having an extension to either side of the shaft entered through the respective loops of .said connecting member in front of the adjacent legs, said eXtensions having widths exceeding their heights,

and a hook extending from one of said transverse bar s under which said shaft may be engaged. Y

10. In a liag holding device, two pairs of opposing clamping members, a connectin member between each of the clampin mem rs in each pair substantially U-shape and having a forwardly turned loop in one of its le directed along the side of the other leg, a transverse bar interconnecting and rigidly spacing apart corresponding c amping mem- .bers in the two pairs, and a second bar trans` versely extending between and spacing apart the corresponding opposing clamping membersz a shaft, a foot on the shaft having an extenslon to either side of the shaft entered through the res ective loops of said connecting member in ront of the adjacent legs, said extensions J having widths exceeding their heights, and a hook extending from'one of said transverse bars under which said shaft may be engaged, each of said connecting members having a coil spring connection between the lower ends of the legs forming the members.

1l. In a flag holding device, apair of opposing clamping members, a connecting mem,- ber between the clamping members substantially U-shaped, a loop formed in one of the legs of the connecting member directed forwardly along4 the side of the other, an operating member comprising va shaft and a foot on the shaft inserted through said -loop in frontof said other leg, said foot having a greater width in its plane normal to the shaft than its thickness in the opposite direction, l

and a hook extending from one of said clamping members under which said shaft may be engaged, said shaft having an offset formed therein above said hook, by means of which offset said device may be graspedand held against rotation to permit ,the device to be operated by one hand. v

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature. WALTER L. SHIRLEY. 

